Euroleague:CSKAThrashesBesiktas

CSKA Moscow demolished Turkish team Besiktas 85-58 in a blowout win that underlined the Russians’ status as one of the strongest teams in the Euroleague.

MOSCOW, November 3 (R-Sport) - CSKA Moscow demolished Turkish team Besiktas 85-58 in a blowout win that underlined the Russians’ status as one of the strongest teams in the Euroleague.

CSKA led after every quarter of the regular-season game, doing most of the damage in a 24-9 third quarter.

“We did well in defense with desire and coordinated well in offense. This was the key to our fluid game,” CSKA coach Ettore Messina said in comments on the Euroleague website.

His Besiktas counterpart Erman Kunter was unsparing in his criticism of his team’s performance in front of a raucous home crowd in Istanbul.

“We had unexpectedly a terrible game tonight,” he said on the Euroleague website. “We could have had a chance to win but we did nearly everything bad.”

Kunter tipped CSKA as “one of the most important candidates for the Final Four once again.”

Sonny Weems and Nenad Krstic were joint top scorers for CSKA with 18 points, with Krstic making the score off the bench, while Andrei Vorontsevich also contributed heavily with 14 points and nine rebounds.

The only Besiktas player to break the ten-point barrier was Muratcan Guler with 12 points, while the five starters scored just 30 points between them.

CSKA and Barcelona both have 4-0 records in Group D ahead of their game in Moscow next week, while Besiktas slipped to 2-2 and is third in the six-team group. Barcelona edged out Partizan Belgrade 85-82 on Friday.

The other Russian team in action Friday was Eurocup holder BC Khimki, which beat Slovenia’s Olimpija Ljubljana 75-65.

Khimki’s ex-Portland Trail Blazers forward Sergei Monia had said the game was must-win for his struggling team, which climbed to fourth in Group A with a 2-2 record as a result of the win. Olimpija is last on 1-3.

Khimki was 19-18 down at the end of the first quarter but rallied to win the second 25-14 and take a lead it did not relinquish for the rest of the game.

“The main point is our victory because in case of a defeat, the situation of our team would have been pitiable,” Monia said on the Euroleague site.

“It’s great we won after two road defeats, the mood within the team has become better.”

Olimpika relied heavily on its Australian power forward Aron Baynes, who delivered 27 points and 10 rebounds.

Vitaly Fridzon was Khimki’s top scorer with 20 points, while American guard Kelvin Rivers scored 16.

Khimki next plays Greek team Panathinaikos, third in the group with a 2-2 record behind Real Madrid and Fenerbahce.

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